The Beginning of a Tale
by Sarah-FFVII
Summary: As the title states, this story is just the beginning of a well known tale. This is the story of Ifalna the Cetra. How did she come to know Professor Gast? And what did she ever know about the Jenova Project? Please read and review.
1. Prologue: Manuscript of the Histories

Sarah- I do not own the FFVII characters, yadda, yadda, yadda. ^_^**  
  
--The Beginning of a Tale--  
--Prologue: Manuscript of the Histories--**  
  
  
  
**Manuscript of the Histories: **   
**Written by Pro. Michael Gast  
Source of Information from Ifalna Gast  
  
  
_Chapter 1_**  
  
_The Cetra themselves were an advanced people from beyond the galaxy we reside in. For eons they had searched for a planet to call home. There had been billions upon billions of this race, but after all the years of drifting through space, only hearing the reverberations of the many other planets' listless voices, many perished. After a time, they came into this minuscule gathering of stars in the cosmos that we call the Milky Way.   
  
And in this tiny handful of celestial beings, they heard a song. A song that revitalized their spirits. After all of their long wandering, they had found a place to call home. The sweet sound led them on, growing stronger as the Cetra neared.  
  
There was much happiness and great rejoicing. In finding a planet that had its own consciousness, which was rare, it held a variety of lifeforms, including one very similar to the Cetra themselves. This people were still in a medieval era of growth, seemingly stuck in their cultural growth. For years and years, the Cetra lived in peaceful bands on the continents alongside the humans, healing minor wounds the Planet received through natural disaster, cultivating the flora and fauna, and aiding their friends to become a more advanced people and civilization.  
  
Then one fateful day, an alien being descended violently onto the surface of the northernmost continent, in the area of the Knowlespole Cetra, as they called their band. The being was severely wounded from its arrival, and begged for help from the Planet and the Cetra.  
  
But, the Planet was wary, and these feelings were also transferred to the Cetra, who had become self-made guardians of their home. The wound inflicted by the alien being's crash had caused an uproar between the numerous bands of the Cetra people scattered across the world. In a panic, they flocked to the site of the wound, with the intent to heal the life-threatening injury.  
  
By this time, the being had gathered information on the Cetra, the humans, and most importantly, the Planet. The being, original name unknown, approached the Cetra once more as they gathered to heal the wound it itself had caused, asking for the cure of its many wounds. It also asked if it might held repair the damage done.  
  
The being was taken in by the Knowlespole Cetra, waiting eagerly for its body to heal. A unknown time elapsed, some think about a month, before all of the able Cetra had come. Some of their human allies had come with them as well, concerned about the Planet. The being asked why more humans had not come, and received the answer that some of the humans had rejected the Cetra's friendship and help, instead staying to themselves and attacking Cetra bands at random encounters.  
  
The Cetra were gathered and rested, ready to heal their mother Planet. The being, by this time, had fully regained its strength, and transformed, appearing to the congregation as the face of their dearest loved one. Of course, with all the Cetra, as well as humans under its trance, the being called upon the rebellious humans. They were to become its minions, to do everything it told them to do.  
  
And whilst this was all happening, no reason for the being's actions were never made known. Knowing they had been betrayed by someone thought to be their friend and ally, the Cetra tried desperately to heal the Planet before the being could harm it any more. The Planet itself was deeply wounded to the point of death.  
  
But, somehow, the being gathered the humans, and sent them to attack the remaining Cetra that had been left behind. The being then went by itself to the central city of the Knowlespole Cetra, where they had gathered. In its attack, the being unleashed a seemingly harmless virus into the peoples, and was slightly weakened from the exertion.  
  
At this time, the Planet, in its weak state, began to produce the Weapons. The Weapons were gigantic reptilian creatures that would be able to destroy the being. These Weapons would take a great amount of spirit energy to produce, so it was thought by the Cetra is they waited too long to destroy the being, all would be lost.  
  
The normally peaceful Cetra took it upon themselves as the guardians of the Planet to defeat and seal away the being. They condemned it the name 'Crisis from the heavens', and attacked it all out. Somehow, the Crisis, as it was called now, gained access to the ultimate destruction spell, only known to certain leaders of the Cetra.   
  
With the meaning to use the spell to destroy the Planet and the Cetra, the Crisis tried to use it. In a last attempt to destroy the Crisis, the remaining Cetra weakened it to the point of inability to use magic, and transported the helpless being to the Western continent, so it could be sealed away, for the Cetra were still too weak from the virus and the Planet's wound to ultimately destroy it.  
  
The Crisis was sealed in a tomb-like cavern in the mountains north of the Valley of the Fallen Star. The Cetra were relieved, but this did not last for long. The once flourishing people had been dealt a devastating blow. Almost every Cetra that had been in the Knowlespole area had either been killed by the humans under the Crisis' influence, or the virus had taken them. The Cetra were outnumbered by the humans, who were still in hiding from the Crisis, afraid of its return...  
  
  
  
_


	2. Chapter 1: The First Meeting

**--The Beginning of a Tale--  
--Chapter 1: The First Meeting--**  
  
The sun was just about to set, its golden light sending her own elongated shadow across the steps of the entrance. Wiping the sheen of sweat of her brow, Ifalna's eyes were at once attracted to the immense bonfire that filled the entire area with light. Tiny embers floated up into the already midnight blue sky, shining like red stars.  
  
"Miss, are you looking for something?" A man's voice asked, penetrating Ifalna's thoughts.   
  
Turning, her large hazel eyes wide and questioning, Ifalna replied softly, "Yeah. Is there an inn anywhere nearby?"  
  
The speaker, a lean, sun-darkened man, smiled, his bright white teeth making a startling contrast, and nodded. "Yes ma'am. See that building there?" He questioned her, pointing to a small, but inviting building. "That's the bar, as well as the inn."  
  
Ifalna smiled, thanking the man, and proceeded towards the inn. For a moment, she stopped at the flame, wondering what it was for, or what it symbolized. A child walked up to her, and spoke, as if he had read her mind.  
  
"That's the Cosmo Candle. It protects our home, Cosmo Canyon. It hasn't ever gone out.. Except for one time.."  
  
"When did it go out?" Ifalna asked, curious.  
  
The child scratched his forehead, in thought. "I dunno. You'd hafta ask the elder. He's in the bar. Momma says I can't bug him with questions, but I just hafta know some things.." Ifalna laughed, patted the child on the head, and she entered the building that the inn and bar both occupied.  
  
"I'm telling you, Henry," Ifalna heard as she entered, "What I've started and done was wrong. This whole Jenova Project is wrong! I have to stop it, or leave. So many horrible.." The man speaking started to speak more softly.  
  
Ifalna climbed the wooden stairs, which creaked loudly, and stood at the counter, waiting for the clerk to finish writing something down. When the woman look up, she was apparently startled, but covered it with a bright smile.   
  
"Welcome to Cosmo Canyon's Shildra Inn! It's 100 gil a night. Will you be staying here, ma'am?" she said in a friendly voice.  
  
Ifalna resisted the urge to scream that she wasn't forty years old. _I hate being called ma'am. I'm only twenty-four for crying out loud._ "Yes, in a single room."  
  
"Yes ma'am. Here's the key," she handed Ifalna a copper key on a key ring with the room number engraved on it. "And you also have access to the bar, as well as free drinks, since your staying the night."  
  
"Thank you." Going into her small room, Ifalna changed her traveling shorts and light colored tank top for some cut-off khaki shorts and dark blue tank top. Taking her waist length, nut brown hair out of the braid it was in, she brushed it and rebraided it. Checking her bracelet, she made sure her materia was still in. It was. She then washed face and brushed her teeth in the bathroom. Satisfied with her appearance, Ifalna went down to the bar, and ordered a shot of tequila.  
  
"All alone tonight?" The bartender asked, wiping down the counter with a white rag.  
  
"Yeah. I've been alone for quite a while now.." She murmured, downing the shot with a quick flick of her wrist. Ifalna set down the shot glass, shrugging. "It just happens in life."  
  
"Are you from that village in the Frog Forest that was destroyed?" He asked, guessing by her accent.  
  
Ifalna nodded. Had it already been two years since everyone she had known and loved had died? It couldn't have been such a long time. Sometimes she forgot they were even gone.. "Yup. All my family died in that flood. Why? You have someone you know die there, too?" She asked, trying to take the subject off of herself.  
  
"Listen to me, Michael. If you don't think it's an Ancient now, then why did you then?" The man from earlier, Henry, asked the other, Michael. They sat at a table across the small room, their voices rising and lowering.  
  
_Ancients. The Cetra. My people. What are they talking about?_ Ifalna took the refilled shot glass and downed it, pushing it away, and straining to hear what the two men were speaking of.  
  
"There were those images on the walls. Murals, more like it. And the symbols were like those of the Temple on the island near Mideel. It just seemed right... I don't know." The man, Michael, ran his fingers through his short, dark brown hair, and then pushed up his thin-rimmed glasses unconsciously. "I just can't be a part of it any longer. Hojo has done some horrible things to the child already. Lucrecia disappeared, as well as that Turk all that time ago.."  
  
"You think there's foul play involved?"  
  
"Yes. That Hojo is insane. He wants the child all to himself. Whenever I try to give the child the proper attention he needs.. It's been like this for seven years.."  
  
"But, why do you now think that it wasn't an Ancient?" Henry pressed.   
  
Ifalna looked over, wanting to know what they were speaking of. Trying to be discreet, she studied the man, Michael. He was tall, when standing, and well built. Most likely in his late twenties, more preferably in his early thirties. Dark brown hair, thin lens glasses, and the most intelligent green eyes she had ever seen. Michael was not a handsome man, but something in his face made you look at him. _What do you know of the Cetra?_  
  
"I just don't think it is. That chamber.. Something about it wasn't right. I'm planning to go north, to that city.."  
  
Ifalna stood, and walked over to the two men, waiting for them to acknowledge her. Michael was seated so his back was to her, and Henry as at his side. It was Henry that noticed her first.  
  
"Can I help you?" He asked, after clearing his throat.   
  
Michael turned halfway in his seat, studying Ifalna. A young woman, mid-twenties, thick nut brown hair, large, almond shaped hazel eyes, average height, and rather pretty, in an almost aristocratic way. _Did she hear? What does she want?_  
  
"I heard..," she started, blushing under the two men's intense gazes. "I heard you talking about the Cetra?"  
  
Michael stiffened, but Henry nodded. "We were. Do you know something of the Cetra, since you know their proper name?"  
  
Michael stared at Ifalna. Something about her seemed... Seemed different. "What would she know?" he said slowly.   
  
Ifalna's mouth itched to turn into a frown, and her hands on her hips. She definitely knew more than both of those two men combined! "I know a little bit." she snapped, slipping in that little white lie. Well, then, a few more. "My parents told me things they had heard.. I want to study them. So, I heard your conversation, and was interested."  
  
Michael turn back to face Henry. "I'll talk to her, Henry," he sighed. "You said you had to leave at eight o'clock anyway. It's eight-thirty."  
  
Henry looked down at his watch and nodded. "Yep. Clarice'll be hopping mad.. Bye, Michael. I hope you can sort things out." He nodded politely to Ifalna and left, leaving Michael and her together.  
  
"Look, let's go outside or something, and we can talk. Is that okay, Miss..?"  
  
Ifalna hesitated. The Planet.. She could hear it so clearly here. It was crying softly, the wound up north never healed causing it constant distress. "Ifalna Rausch."  
  
"Well, Ifalna, come. We can talk about the Cetra."  
  
So, Ifalna followed Michael out of the bar. They went to sit around the Cosmo Candle. Michael was the first person to speak.  
  
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Professor Michael Gast of Shinra's Science Department."  
  
Ifalna stared at him, her mouth open wide, blinking her several seconds. Professor Gast of the Shinra! He was known all over the world for his scientific achievements. Her father had once commented on his research on the Cetra... "Oh. Well, hello."  
  
Gast had been watching her intently, waiting for her response. And once he had it, he laughed. "Don't look a scientist, do I? No funny white lab coat and pocket protectors here."  
  
Ifalna smiled, feeling at ease. "So, what are you doing out of a lab?"  
  
"Well, I had to get away from what I'm doing.. But, that's not the point. Ifalna, have you ever heard of the City of the Ancients?"  
  
"Yes. I was born there."  
  
"You were? How did this come to be?" Gast asked, not truly believing. He knew of the enchanted forest surrounding the City. It was hard to even get into the forest, let alone the city.  
  
"I have no idea, " Ifalna lied. She couldn't just go around yelling out that she was a Cetra. The knowledge that the Shinra company searching for the remaining Cetra was bad enough. Plus, this man was an employee.  
  
"How odd," Gast replied. He watched Ifalna from the corner of his eye. _She must think I'm some absent-minded professor.. She knows why. But, why is she not telling? Maybe she knows the whereabouts of some living Ancients.. I need to keep her close. _"I'm heading to the City of the Ancients within the week, would you like to come, since you're interested in the Cetra?"  
  
Ifalna lowered her eyes, deep in thought. She felt deep inside that she could trust this man. The strange feeling she had about going with him settled in-between her shoulder blades, itching uncomfortably. Him not knowing that she was Cetra was going to be compromised inevitably. But, Ifalna felt as if it was the right thing to do. She had nowhere to go anyway. There were no Cetra left. She was the last.  
  
"I'd love to, as long as I'm not a burden."  
  
"Oh, you won't be. And, the Shinra company will take care of you."  
  
Ifalna nodded. Somehow, that didn't make the uncomfortable feeling go away. It itched even worse.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 2: Dreams of the Past and Future

**--The Beginning of a Tale--  
--Chapter 2: Dreams of the Past and Future--**  
  
_What am I thinking? Going off with a man I don't know to learn things I already know..._ Ifalna shook her head in irritation. She was going to leave Cosmo Canyon and go to the Capital with a scientist that worked for Shinra. Why had she agreed?_ I know more of the Cetra than he, but why did I agree to go? Why? I can't just cancel..._  
  
"I can trust him.." she whispered to herself as she sat on the small bed in her room. "I hope."  
  
It had felt right in her mind when Michael Gast had offered it. The chance to go back to her birthplace, her home. She was the last of the Cetra, yet she had not seen her true home since her first wailing breath as a babe.  
  
The back of Ifalna's neck tickled, and she smiled. The Planet was happy that she would return to the City. For the first time in years, it would be able to converse with its child freely. Soft tendrils of emotion curled into Ifalna's mind, telling her of the joy that would come of her visit. _Maybe it is for the best.   
_  
Yawning, Ifalna undressed, pulling on an old T-shirt to sleep in. Muted voices, rising from Planet, caught her ear as she slipped into the sleep that was overtaking her. _Goodnight, Ifalna._  
  
_Night, Daddy._  
  
Her eyelids fluttered, finally closing. Ifalna's breathing slowed to a steady, rhythmic pace. As her father's voice left her mind, leaving behind a ethereal pace, Ifalna was deep asleep. And her dreams took her mind.  
  
*  
  
_The sky was a darkened cauldron of thunder, lightning, and fat raindrops. The rain had been falling in steady torrents for days. It seemed as if this freak storm would never pass. Trees had been felled, belongings left outside swept away, and homes destroyed. And it looked as if this were the calm before the storm.  
  
Ifalna had been sent to Gagonga a week earlier to buy supplies not found in the small village of Garner. The skies had been as blue as her mother's clear bright eyes, promising good weather for days to come. Her wild chocobo, had quickly taken her to the farming town, with the help of some greens given to her by her father.  
  
Once arriving to Gagonga, the storm had passed over, leaving behind remnants of nature's fury. For nearly a week, Ifalna stayed behind, helping the people get back to their feet, unknowing that her own village was suffering worse. Using her limited Cetra abilities, she healed some of the sick, leaving her week.  
  
A week had gone and past, taking her into another. Finally, drained and eager to be home, Ifalna purchased the original supplies she needed for her mother and father. After a long day's travel on her trouble-making chocobo, Ifalna arrived to the ruins of her village. The damn keeping the water from the area had broken over the water that had so suddenly come into it.  
  
"Mom?! Daddy?!"  
  
There had been only three survivors of the entire flood, herself not included. Her mother, father, and young brother had all drowned. Why couldn't the help tame the storm? she had asked herself, tears running down pale cheeks.   
  
The ancient powers that the Cetra had possessed thousands of years ago had dwindled to nothing but meager healing abilities. For the first time in Ifalna's life, she became bitter, not trusting anything any longer. She was twenty-two years old, and she was very alone in the world.  
_  
*  
  
Ifalna's eyes opened slowly, cold tears shining in her eyes. Sitting up, she fumbled for the lamp, nearly knocking it over. Squinting as the bright light hit her eyes, Ifalna fumbled for her watch on the nightstand. 4:23 AM.  
  
"Great. I'll never..," she yawned, "Get to sleep.."  
  
But, as if to defy her words, she lay back down, clearing her mind of her painful memories. So much loss happened to her in her life._ Life is like that.. If you don't become stronger from it, then you'll be swept away.. _Moments later, she fell into another bout of sleep, another dream winding its way into her subconscious...  
  
*  
  
_There was nothing. The pitch darkness seemed to envelope her, caress her skin, and fill her nostrils with it sickly sweet fragrance. Soft echoes of dry, rasping laughter bounced off the walls, bombarding her ears with noise as it grew louder, louder, louder.. She couldn't hear anything, save that devilish laughter.  
  
Was there no escape from this hovel of insanity in which she had been placed? Her mind strained for thought to enter, exerted itself trying to shut out the sound, and panted as the darkness became tangible, stroking her skin.  
  
Then, all at once, all the sensory demons left her, fleeing to the recesses of the darkness, which faded away to nothingness. She shuddered violently, the memory of it enough to make her vomit. Slowly, a soft, ethereal light shone down into the room, its emerald hues almost revitalizing her. The beautiful tones darkened, transformed even, into a bloody crimson.  
  
She felt a shiver of fear, ancient fear from thousands of years before, run up and down her spine, paralyzing her. The light.. That blood.. It was the color of blood... There was something.. Something evil, there..  
  
"I have to get away!!" she yelled, panic seizing her heart.  
  
The ruby beams pulsated, there light trying to tear open her mind, just as the other had done. She.. would not.. let it!  
_  
*  
  
Ifalna awoke again, sitting up at a sickening wave of nausea overtook her body. She threw the coverlet off of her body, rushing to the restroom. For several minutes, she sat before the toilet, dry heaves racking her frame. After the sickness left her, Ifalna sat in a heap against the toilet, her forehead resting against the cool white ceramic.  
  
Moments later, Ifalna heard a series of quick knocks on her door. She stood, holding the wall for support, and then made her way to the door, opening it up a crack. "Yes?"  
  
The inn's receptionist waited outside her door. When Ifalna opened the door, she smiled brightly. "Good morning! I have a message for you, ma'am, from Professor Gast." The woman handed Ifalna the letter, leaving after a few moments of bright smiles.  
  
Closing the door and leaning against it, Ifalna opened the unsealed envelope, quickly scanning the words.  
  


_Miss Ifalna,  
  
Please join a friend and I for lunch today before we leave for the Ancient's City. It be past the Tiger Lily weapons shop at eleven forty-five sharp. You will probably enjoy her company. She knows much about the Cetra.  
  
Sincerely,  
M. Gast_  


  
Ifalna folded the letter, smiling. Thick-headed men and their chicken scrawl writing. It was amazing that she could eve read that. Nevertheless, Ifalna would go. A conversation about her people would be fun, especially since she knew more than pretty much anyone.  
  
After checking her watch, which read eleven o'clock, Ifalna jumped into the shower. As the warm water ran through her hair and over her tired body, Ifalna thought aloud.  
  
"What is with that dream I had? I guess it's from the alcohol on an empty stomach.."  
  
After thirty minutes of getting ready, Ifalna left her room, walking through the city of Cosmo Canyon, towards the small restaurant called the Blue Moon Café. She stopped short when she saw who, rather what, was sitting beside the professor. What was that? A cat? Lion? Wolf?  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
